A Call by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei Against the Politicization of Science Funding and
in Favor of Unrestricted International Collaboration
The United States Office of Management and Budget has posted in the Federal Register for public comment a series of suggestions that promise to overhaul radically the funding of American science to align it better with the objectives and beliefs of the Trump administration.
The changes at the federal funding bodies that support biomedical science – the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation - are proposed to include dilution of the primacy of peer review in grant allocation and the requirement for final approval of funding by political appointees. The new rules would ban many international collaborations promoting an “America First” approach and ban use of federal funds to attend international conferences.
The Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, based on its philosophy and its own historical experience deplores the politicization of science, reaffirms its belief in peer review as the cornerstone of resource allocation in the sciences and sustains the importance of unrestricted international collaboration in science.
Humanity faces diverse challenges at a global scale including climate change, infectious diseases, hunger, poverty and conflict. Finding solutions rests on funding the best science that emerges from unfettered dialog, innovation and collaboration amongst the world’s scientists.
document approved by the general meeting 11 June 2026